


To See and Choose (Can Be a Dangerous Thing)

by sometimes_i_right



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, Integration AU, Jedi Seer Obi-Wan Kenobi, Mandalorian Empire, Minor Character Death, but it is implied, no actual integration is shown
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-17
Updated: 2021-01-17
Packaged: 2021-03-15 17:00:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,232
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28816722
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sometimes_i_right/pseuds/sometimes_i_right
Summary: Jedi Seer Obi-Wan Kenobi has a choice: flee with the younglings from their secret temple or stay to kill one of the most dangerous Sith Lords in the galaxy. Fleeing with the younglings would mean the eventual death of millions of people, but staying to face the Sith Lord will end with him surrounded by Mandalorian supercommandos. The Sith are approaching, and he has to choose soon.An Integration by Millberry_5 AU
Comments: 17
Kudos: 324
Collections: Integration: The Collection





	To See and Choose (Can Be a Dangerous Thing)

**Author's Note:**

> This version of the Integration universe was prompted by the wonderful Slappy and expanded by all the lovely people in Millberry's Integration Discord server. Jedi Seer!Obi-Wan is a trope I adore, and this spin was too fun to resist.

"Master Obi-Wan, why aren't you coming with us?" June, a young devaronian asked, purple eyes wide and pleading and almost tearful.

Obi-Wan fixed his best serene look on his face, hoping it hid the fact he wanted to cry as much as the younglings. "The Force asks many things of us, my dear. And right now, it's asking me to stay behind," he said with a small smile.

"Liar," a togruta girl accused, face screwed up in a tiny scowl. "You're a liar. Why are you lying? Why can't you come with us?"

"Ahsoka, dear," Obi-Wan pleaded, moving one hand to stroke the girl's stubby montrals. "I have been shown a path that I cannot let you follow. Please, it is our duty as Jedi to defend life, freedom, and the Republic. For you, that means growing up to be good, strong Jedi Knights. And for me, that means staying here to guard your retreat."

"But… but why can't you come with us?" Kenth, a human boy, whined between sniffles. "Why do you have to stay?"

Obi-Wan sighed, pulled the boy close for a hug, and ended up with six younglings clamoring for a spot against his chest. For a moment, he wasn't sure what he could say. What would children under the age of five understand? How do you explain that by staying behind, hundreds of Jedi and thousands, if not _millions,_ of citizens' lives would be saved?

"Can I tell you a secret?" Obi-Wan asked, pulling back slightly to stare intently at Kenth. All six younglings nodded eagerly, jostling closer so they could all hear clearly. "The Force shows me things," he revealed, smiling slightly as little W'nar rolled his whole head in exasperation. Of course the younglings knew he saw things. He had received a vision in the middle of an intense game of push-pull once. "And the Force has shown me that this is a very important test on your path to becoming Jedi. Passing this test will put you one step closer to becoming Jedi Padawans, but you can't take this test if I come with you. You have to leave me behind."

"But I don't want to," June said mournfully. Five heads bobbed in agreement, and Obi-Wan sighed once more.

"I know, but sometimes we have to do things we don't like. That is part of growing up and part of becoming Jedi," Obi-Wan said. "Now come on. Let's be brave, and follow the Force," he urged as he pushed himself to his feet.

One of the guards - Feemor, though the Temple Guard didn't know that he knew that - was glaring at him, radiating disapproval as Obi-Wan gently urged the younglings up the ship's ramp. Their crechemaster was busy stowing everything they could, and gave him a far deeper bow than escorting younglings deserved.

"Master Obi-Wan! I'm stuck!" Ahsoka shouted, and Obi-Wan gave her an unamused look as it became apparent she had twisted her crash webbing deliberately. No doubt an attempt to somehow trick him into staying.

"I've got you, little Ahsoka," Master Barai soothed, rushing over to assist the youngling. "Thank you, Master Kenobi," they said gravely, and Obi-Wan shifted uncomfortably.

That wasn't his title, and he wasn't doing this for thanks. He was doing this because it was the right thing for the galaxy.

"May the Force be with you," Obi-Wan intoned with a deep bow.

"May the Force be with you," the nautolan (and their younglings) repeated before Obi-Wan slipped back out of the ship.

He had just cleared the ramp and started making his way towards the Temple when Feemor grumbled, "You shouldn't do this."

"And you should be getting on that ship," Obi-Wan countered blithely, folding his hands into his robes to hide their slight tremble. "There is no reason for you to remain behind as well."

"Our duty is to guard the Temples and their inhabitants," Dithul, the only other Temple Guard still standing in the hangar bay, pointed out.

Obi-Wan turned his best unamused look on the two guards before shaking his head. "You were both there when I had my vision. You know why I'm staying."

"And you know why we're staying," Feemor countered with the slightest cheerful inflection. For a Temple Guard, that was equivalent to doing a happy jig in a Corellian cantina.

"The other guards," and Obi-Wan was polite enough not to use their names, "aren't."

"The other guards have other Temple inhabitants to protect."

Obi-Wan rolled his eyes. "Is there truly no convincing you?"

The ensuing silence was answer enough.

They watched in complete silence as the ship's ramp closed and the repulsorlifts cycled. He closed his eyes against the hot wash of displaced air, felt his outer robes catch and buffet his shins, and prayed to the Force for a happy vision. Something Light to counter the Dark he could feel creeping in as the younglings' pure, innocent Force left the planet's surface.

The engines cycled, and he could hear the ship rocket into the atmosphere. He opened his eyes to watch the grey and blue spec rapidly vanish.

He sighed as he felt his fellow Jedi slip from his senses and into hyperspace.

"Come, Knight Kenobi. We should get inside," and prepare for battle, Feemor didn't say. Obi-Wan nodded and allowed himself to be steered up the dramatic stone steps and into the austere Temple he had called home for the last three years. He almost jumped out of his skin when he heard the sound of latches coming undone and realized Feemor was removing his mask. "What?" the man - human, blond, blue eyed, older than the repudiated young adult Obi-Wan had seen as a padawan but familiar nonetheless - asked.

"Y--" Obi-Wan stuttered, surprised to see Dithul removing his mask as well. He shook his head. He should have seen this coming.

The pantoran guard smirked, the single greatest display of emotion Obi-Wan had ever seen in an active guardsman before. "Our enemies are coming for Obi-Wan Kenobi," Dithul stated, "But what are the odds they know what you look like? My name is Obi-Wan Kenobi."

"And my name is Obi-Wan Kenobi," Feemor agreed, and Obi-Wan had to take a moment to marvel at how perfectly level these two mischievous former(?) guards felt in the Force.

"If we're doing this, we should really get changed," Obi-Wan said, still marveling at the sacrifice these two Jedi were willing to make and at actually, physically, in-real-life-and-not-in-a-vision, seeing two guards' faces.

The robes of a Jedi Guardian were heavier than the robes Obi-Wan was accustomed to. They were thicker and more durable, meant to survive prolonged campaigns across all manner of hostile terrain and not just the endless wonders of a hidden Temple. In another life, they would have fit him like a second skin.

(In another life, his face would be splashed across every holoscreen in the galaxy.)

He sighed, adjusted where his lightsaber rested against his hip, and settled down on the Temple floor to meditate.

-0-

The Sith had arrived.

It did not take a Jedi Master to sense their arrival. The Dark pressed against his mind, tried to smother him, choke him, ensnare him before the hyperdrive even finished cycling. He shuddered and removed himself from his meditation.

Feemor and Dithul looked grim but determined. All three Jedi traded glances before reaching for their lightsabers.

"We hide," Obi-Wan stated lowly. "For this to work, we need the Sith Lord to enter the Temple." Neither guard looked thrilled at the thought, and Obi-Wan grimaced in sympathy. "We activate every trap we've got and we wait. The Mandalorians will not be far behind. If the Force is with us, we'll all live to serve another day."

"Your vision ended with you surrounded by Mandalorians," Feemor drolly reminded him.

"And that's where it ended," Obi-Wan agreed cheerily. "Which is why I really am grateful you two have remained with me."

The two guards exchanged longsuffering looks, which only made Obi-Wan smile wider. "If we make it out of this, I'm killing you myself," Feemor vowed. "What was your plan if we hadn't remained?"

Obi-Wan shrugged. "The Force would have provided."

It was only years of training and proud tradition that kept either guard from groaning.

An involuntary shudder passed through Obi-Wan's frame as he felt the Dark creep closer. "They've breached atmosphere. We need to go," Obi-Wan stated, forcing down the surge of panic he could feel clawing at his throat. He reached for the Force, grasping for what tendrils were not roiling from the overwhelming presence of a Sith Lord, and calmed himself.

"Right. Kenobi, start in the Archives. If they make it past that, head towards the Chamber of Clarity or the Vault, whichever way is more clear. Dithul, you take the creche. I'll take the meditation garden. If you are chased from the Chamber or the Vault, try to make your way to one of us," Feemor ordered.

"It ends in the Vault," Obi-Wan said softly. "The Dark Side obscures most of the battle, but I am surrounded in the Vault in the end."

"Then we'll make our way towards the Vault, and take out as many Acolytes as we can along the way," Dithul stated.

"May the Force be with you," Obi-Wan recited, wishing it didn't feel like farewell.

"And with you. Now go," Dithul ordered, nudging the younger Knight into motion.

Obi-Wan nodded shortly and took off, lightsaber clenched in one fist. He hoped he didn't need to use it. He had been trained in lightsabers the same as any Jedi Initiate, but lightsaber training had not been his focus in almost a decade. He was adequate, perhaps even competent, with a blade, but his talents had been honed for other things.

But Force did he wish he had spent more time practicing his saber forms now.

He slid to a halt among the neat rows of shelves of the Archives. He panted, drawing on the peace and serenity being surrounded by real paper books offered, and calmed himself. He drew the Force around him, cloaking his Light with the Light of the Temple until it was difficult to tell where the Temple ended and he began.

The Sith breached the Temple walls.

It was not surprising. If anything, it was surprising how long it took the Sith army to debark their ships and enter a mostly empty Temple. Still, the creeping cold sent shivers down Obi-Wan's spine.

It had to be worse for Feemor and Dithul. Having Sith enter a Temple - _allowing_ Sith to enter their Temple without a fight - was anathema to a Temple Guard. All they had to go on was Obi-Wan's word that it would work out--

No, that was the Dark creeping into his thoughts and making him doubt. He had faith in the Force and what it had shown him. The Force could be confusing and metaphorical, sure, but it had never lied to him, and he was too well trained to ever lie about what the Force showed him.

The loud thud of boots on stone echoed through the Archive. He crouched behind one of the shelves and stretched out with the Force.

Ten Acolytes. A double squadron. Too many for him to take out on his own.

He ducked out from behind the shelf and darted down the length of the Archive. Shouting behind him told him he had been spotted, and Obi-Wan bared his teeth in a grimace as he ran, the Acolytes in pursuit. He reached out with the Force and triggered the Archive's defenses.

Light flooded the Archive, blinding and binding the Acolytes. They screamed in pain and rage, and screamed again when the archive's golem - a giant, ancient, metal humanoid guardian similar to the Zeffo tomb guardians Obi-Wan had read about in Master Nu's Archive - activated with an ominous ringing hum.

He fled the sounds of Acolytes dying, knowing the golem would not stop the Acolytes who were sure to follow.

"There he is," a voice croaked, as clear as if it had been whispered right in his ear despite no one standing within a meter radius.

Obi-Wan twisted to look and nearly stumbled. Overwhelming Darkness, cold, ominous, stretching out across his senses until it seemed to swallow half the Temple, glared at him through two luminous gold eyes. He blinked and realized the Force was interfering with his perception. There, concentrated at the very center of the Dark, was the Sith Lord's body, taking the form of a hooded, crooked humanoid.

"After him!" the Sith Lord screeched, and Obi-Wan tore across the corridor.

He ducked, barely feeling a red lightsaber singe the tips of his hair. He raised his lightsaber and deflected the thrown blade on its return arc before turning and sending a blast of the Force down the corridor.

The Sith Lord hardly stumbled, but the Acolytes accompanying him did. Obi-Wan would take what he could get.

He turned and continued fleeing. An explosion rocked the Temple, and Obi-Wan grimaced, not sure if that had been Feemor, Dithul, or the Mandalorians he knew had to have arrived by now.

Cold Dark tried to freeze his limbs in place, and Obi-Wan batted the attempt away. The Dark Side seemed to rear away for a moment before darting back in, clinging to his wrists and ankles and throat and squeezing gently. He grunted and sent the Force radiating away from himself, blasting the creeping tendrils away and lighting up like a beacon in the Force.

If the Sith Lord hadn't already been chasing him, that move would have alerted him to Obi-Wan's location in a heartbeat.

At least the Sith Lord hadn't yet broken out all the horrible ways to kill or maim a Jedi. It led credence to the theory they wanted him alive and mostly healthy.

…Not that he wanted to be captured. He had seen what happened to captured Jedi, and even the nice treatment seemed rather unpleasant.

The Vault was ahead, and Obi-Wan took a half second to wrap the Force around himself once more in preparation. The anti-youngling barrier - a simple mind trick that rebuffed anyone too unskilled with the Force to dismiss it - parted like water, and he plunged headlong into the Trial of Spirit waiting behind.

The Force crooned in his ears, brushed against his mind, and tempted him with visions of a hundred, of a thousand different universes. Phantoms of the past, of the future, of futures that could never be, danced at the edges of his vision. Obi-Wan wrapped serenity around himself, gazed into these false visions, and walked onwards.

Master Sifo-Dyas had been clear. Trials of Spirit could show you things you didn't know about yourself, but a Jedi Seer must never mistake a Trial for a vision.

That didn't stop his lips from automatically forming words, repeating every sound he heard, dictating everything he saw and felt. Master Sifo-Dyas had trained him too well to resist, even if he refused to linger on the illusions.

He passed through the other side with a gasp, a phantom Master Jinn vanishing before his eyes. The false bond between them lingered, an abstract feeling of pride and a stronger feeling of duty slowly fading. He shook his head to clear it. The Trial of Spirit was always fond of showing him Master, or sometimes General, Jinn.

He sealed the Vault entryway and settled in to wait. The blast doors would not stop the Sith Lord's lightsaber, but the Trial and the door should slow it down considerably. Should slow it down _enough_.

He knelt in the middle of the Vault and sank into the Force. Holocrons - sleeping but alive - surrounded him. He should destroy them, but they were all his old visions, their intelligence interpreted and dispersed among the Grand Army years ago. Even if the Sith or the Mandalorians could open them, they would find little of use inside. At least these holocrons would continue to survive long after… whatever happened in this attack.

Feemor and Dithul were still alive, still stubbornly pretending to be the Jedi Knight they were not. He wanted to reach out and warn them that the ruse was up, but a whisper from the Force held him in check. They were fighting for their lives. Brushing against their minds would be a fatal mistake.

The Sith Lord was caught in the Trial of Spirit. Obi-Wan flinched at the wave of _rage_ that billowed out from the other side of the door, and flinched again when a red blade speared through the center of the decorative blast door.

Where were the Mandalorians? Their beskar armor obscured them in the Force, and Obi-Wan felt sweat drip down his spine as he searched for them. The red blade was moving, the door slowly turning to molten slag, and he didn't know how much longer he had.

A light flickered out in his mind. Dithul was gone, returned to the Force.

He acknowledged his sorrow and let it slip away. There would be time for mourning later. Maybe. The Sith's lightsaber was almost completely through the door.

Tiny dark flames, almost completely hidden behind the void that was the Sith Lord, flickered out and caught his attention. An unfamiliar presence - presences, he realized - registered in the Force, and a grim smile slid across his face. They almost felt like droids, the Mandalorians, with the way their armor hid their life force and emotions. The trail of destruction they left in their wake felt more alive than they did.

The ground trembled as _fury/anger/outrage_ shook the Temple's foundations. The red lightsaber vanished, and Obi-Wan could just make out the Sith Lord's dark cloak in the melted gaps of the door. He could barely see the flare of multiple jetpacks and flashes of colorful armor behind the Sith Lord.

The Force shouted in warning as one of the Mandalorians launched a wrist rocket. Obi-Wan scrambled to his feet and away, squeezing his eyes shut against the explosion and the flames that licked through the molten edges of the door. Rocks and bits of debris rained down on his shoulders.

The Sith Lord let out a ferocious roar, and Obi-Wan grit his teeth as the Force _screamed_ in pain. Jagged lightning shot from the Sith Lord's fingertips to slam into one of the Mandalorian commandos, and Obi-Wan lost sight of them as they plummeted out of the air.

He couldn't tell if the Mandalorian had survived. And, to his shame, he wasn't sure if that was a bad thing.

Obi-Wan closed his eyes and focused, feeling the Temple and the other Jedi still inside. Feemor was weak. His light a mere flicker in the Force. He could barely make out Mandalorians surrounding the wounded guard, but it would hardly matter. He wouldn't survive for long.

Obi-Wan brushed against the man-who-could-have-been-his-brother-padawan and felt a faint acknowledgment. Regret, sorrow, a taste of fear, and Obi-Wan gasped as a particularly large explosion rocked the Vault. Feemor gently chided him for his distraction - _be mindful of the present, Kenobi, if you want to defend yourself better than an Initiate -_ and nudged at the Temple.

Obi-Wan felt a brief flash of embarrassment and leant the Temple Guard his strength. The Sith Lord screamed in rage as the Trial of Spirit resurged, its strength bolstered by the Jedi.

And then the Sith Lord screamed as a dozen wrist rockets collided with his position.

And then Obi-Wan screamed as the Force exploded.

-0-

He groaned as he tried to pick himself up from the ground. His _everything_ hurt. He tried to open his eyes and quickly slammed them shut as light stabbed into his brain. His ears would not stop ringing, but, no. That was the Force, ringing with alarm.

He forced his eyes open, barely making out the half-melted chunks of blast door strewn throughout the room. He forced himself to sit up, to push himself towards standing. The Sith Lord's death should be distraction enough; maybe his vision was up for interpretation. Maybe he was metaphorically instead of literally surrounded by Mandalorians after the Sith Lord's death. Maybe he could escape into the vents or among the debris.

"Don't move," a cold voice ordered from behind.

Obi-Wan obediently froze but reached out with the Force. He couldn't sense any immediate danger, but it was hard to tell with the Mandalorian's intentions masked by beskar. He frowned. He felt like he knew that voice, but he couldn't place it.

Footsteps off to the left caught Obi-Wan's attention, and he glanced to the side. Four fully armored Mandalorians, many sporting burns or fresh dents, approached. He tried not to shiver as he was surrounded.

Footsteps behind him, slow and deliberate like a nexu preparing to pounce, and then the first Mandalorian entered his line of sight. He felt his breath catch as he recognized the blue and silver armor.

"The Mand'alor himself, sent to take out little old me?" Obi-Wan asked, hoping the sarcastic delight masked his fear. "I'd be touched if it wasn't an overreaction. I'm hardly worth the effort, though I really must thank you for taking care of that Sith Lord. Who was it? They were one of the big ones, for sure."

"Shut up, Jetii," Jango Fett, the Mand'alor, growled.

Obi-Wan felt a wry smirk twist his lips. "And here I thought you wanted me to talk. That's why you're here, right? And why I'm not already dead? You want to listen to me talk."

"I said: stop it, Jetii, before we make you stop it."

"Ah, now, I'm pretty sure you didn't actually tell me to stop anything," Obi-Wan argued.

A commando behind and to the right of him made a frustrated sound, and then the Force shifted in a way that suggested the Mandalorians were arguing with each other over their internal comms. Part of him sang in victory; maybe, if he was annoying enough, they'd make a mistake and he could escape.

"Get up," Fett ordered, blaster gesturing upwards. "On your feet."

Obi-Wan groaned, not looking forward to the attempt. "First you tell me to stop it, and now you tell me to get up. You really ought to work on your consistency. How can you expect your prisoners to obey when your orders keep conflicting?" Obi-Wan argued. A flare of annoyance strong enough to be felt through beskar radiated from one of the other commandos.

Firm hands grasped his arms and hoisted him to his feet. He reached out with the Force, summoned his lightsaber from where it had been tossed during the explosion and ignited it with a _snap-hiss_.

A blaster pressed against his lower back. "Don't make us shoot you," the Mandalorian warned. "We don't need you to walk."

Obi-Wan grimaced. He released his hold on his lightsaber, letting the blade vanish and clatter to the floor. Fett scooped it up and clipped it to his belt.

"Ke'nari," the Mand'alor ordered the group. "Move, Jetii," he repeated in Basic for Obi-Wan's benefit, not that he needed it.

Obi-Wan hesitated for as long as he could, which wasn't long at all with a blaster against his spine. Still, he dragged his feet and did his best to keep a running commentary going. His captors seemed reluctant to stun him, and Obi-Wan was going to make them regret that choice. Maybe Feemor would pull off a save worthy of his lineage.

(He ignored the part of himself that _knew_ Feemor was gone. He hadn't felt the Guard's death like he had felt Dithul's. He had to have hope that there was some way out of this mess.)

"I know I already thanked you for it, but I really do appreciate you all taking out that Sith Lord when you did," Obi-Wan commented as they passed through the charred and tattered remains of the Trial of Spirit. "I was halfway concerned they were going to make it into the Vault before you did."

Fett snorted. "Unlikely. We know a Republic ship escaped into hyperspace shortly before the Sith arrived. You knew we were coming, and you knew we would take out Darth Sidious for you." Fett shifted, and Obi-Wan had the distinct impression the man was grinning rather viciously behind his t-visor. "We know what you Jedi Seers can do. You knew this was coming, and you wanted it to happen. You _wanted_ us to capture you."

Obi-Wan fell silent, terrified that on some small level the Mand'alor might be right.

He _had_ wanted the Sith Lord - Sidious, apparently - defeated. It just so happened that the vision ending with him surrounded by Mandalorians led to the fewest Jedi dying in the process.

Fett stopped and turned to face him. "So here we are. Your Sith Lord is dead. And you, Obi-Wan Kenobi, are one of us now."

Obi-Wan shuddered, feeling the Force echo and rise with those words. His vision faded and his mouth opened as he began dictating:

_"There is a tiered room, approximately eight meters by ten meters, with a person is kneeling in the center on a mat. They are wearing beskar'gam: white, with bits of blue and green edging. The pattern feels familiar. They are surrounded by students of various species, all younger than five-standard or species equivalent. There is a disassembled lightsaber suspended in the air in front of the Mandalorian…"_

**Author's Note:**

> The illusion protecting the Trial of Spirit was inspired by, I think, Twin Sunrise by Chi-chi-chimaera (gestalt1).
> 
> Effao (the commando who pressed a blaster against Obi-Wan's spine) wasn't _actually_ going to paralyze Obi-Wan, but he didn't know that.
> 
> I don't know if I'll continue this or not since my plot outline ends right here. I think the original discord conversation continued, but I’m not great at turning that style of outline into a story. Thoughts? Feel free to drop a comment or ping me on tumblr at sometimes-i-right


End file.
